People under 30 in Finland are the most likely age group to see their credit rating lowered as a result of defaulting on their rent. More than 50,000 people in the country have seen their credit rating drop when they are unable to make their rent payments, according to Finnish consumer information company Suomen Asiakastieto Oy, with almost 40 per cent of them being under the age of 30.
The company says young people are signing rental agreements they can’t afford. Business operations director Heikki Koivula said at appears as though many young people these days sign rental leases that are too high and fail to react to the situation in time.
He went on to say that as far as rentals are concerned, it is important to contact the landlord at the earliest possible time to agree a suitable rental payment. He added that for someone who has defaulted, it can be difficult to secure rented housing afterwards.
The firm’s research was carried out by post code. It showed that Oulu is the Finnish municipality most likely to see people defaulting on rent payments, with the areas of Taskila-Toppila and Rajakyla both recording default rates of more than 12 per cent. Lohtaja-Ketu, in Kajaani, was the biggest risk post code area, with 12.7 per cent of people defaulting on their rent.
Meanwhile, the region with the best record is Otaniemi, in Espoo, where less than 0.5 per cent of people were unable to pay their rent.